Indian Act

Provision added to Legislation Regarding the Sale and Purchase of Alcohol

Summary

Member of Parliament, Mr. Paterson, recommended a provision to the legislation which criminalized First Nations from purchasing or consuming alcohol. This was to be enforced by settlers who were given the authority to report a First Nations person who allegedly broke this new, egregious law, to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They could provide the names of witnesses to be called, but were not required to testify themselves, so as to avoid the possibility of being harassed by the accused. This provision was agreed to by the House of Commons.

 

Result

This provision encouraged the policing of Indigenous peoples by settlers, allowed for settlers to have extensive legal power over Indigenous peoples, and created a double standard whereby Indigenous peoples were penalized for the same activities that settlers participated. As such, Indigenous peoples self-determination and authority continued to be undermined by the state, a theme widely seen throughout paternalistic policies. The Canadian Government implemented policies that criminalized Indigenous peoples in nearly every aspect of their lives, from ceremonies and community gatherings, to the sale of goods, mobility and the pass system, seeking legal counsel, voting, and many other laws that penalized Indigenous peoples for merely existing in a settler colonial state. 

 

Sources

House of Commons Debates. 4th Parliament, 2nd Session, vol. II, 12 February 1880 - 7 May 1880. Pg 1997.

Resources
House of Commons Debates
Fill

 

Date
1882-00-00
Region
Canada
Theme(s)
Incarceration
Federal Governance
Indian Act
Legal

Indian Act Amendment

Summary

Under this programme, the Superintendent-General was able to issue loans of up to $350,000 for the purchase of agricultural tools or seed, live stock, fishing supplies, or handicraft materials. The Superintendent-General was also given the power to issue prospecting and mining leases on reserve lands without a land surrender.

Implications
The amendment allowing the release of reserve lands without a land surrender negates treaty obligations that reserve lands were to remain with Indigenous communities, and that any land surrender was to be negotiated before proceeding.
Sources

CP, House of Commons Debates, 3 Sess., 18 Parl., 1938, Vol. IV, p. 3510: Indian Act Amendment (Bill 138) -- 2nd reading, 3 June 1938.

Sub Event
Creation of Revolving Loan Fund, Superintendent-General Power to Grant Mining Leases
Resources
Statutes of Canada
Mining North America: An Environmental History Since 1522
Date
1938-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Indian Act
Documents
File
event397-2c89041c.pdf292.72 KB
File Description
An Act to Amend the Indian Act: 2 George VI, 18th Parliament, 3rd Session, Chapt. 31

Indian Act Amendment

Summary

1. The amendment to the Indian act allowed the government to declare any poorly-equipped institution an industrial or boarding school for Aboriginal peoples. It also allowed the government to claim Aboriginal lands for the creation of a residential school. 2. The Superintendent-General was given the power to appoint an executor of the estate of a deceased Aboriginal person. 3. The Superintendent was given supreme authority over sanitation, including the cleaning of public spaces and homes, and supplying necessary medicine.

Implications
These amendments represent a trend in amendments to the Indian Act in which bureaucratic surveillance and control of Indigenous affairs increased over time. No accountability structures or system of checks and balances were simultaneously applied to compensate for the powers afforded these expansions of bureaucratic oversight. This is indicative of the belief that it was Indigenous peoples who posed a threat to societal order, and from whom settler society needed to be protected, obscuring the abuses of state-imbued power and vulnerability to harm from unelected Indian Agents or other colonial officials. There does not appear to have been discussions of rights that applied to First Nations people or potential routes of advocacy in cases of corruption, such as unjust accusations of criminality. For more information, please see related entries on Indian Act amendments.
Sources

PAC, RG10, Vol. 6809, file 470-2-3, vol. 6: Scott to Roche, 30 January 1914 with draft bill and brief, p. 6-9.

Sub Event
Increased Power over Creation of Residential Schools, Superintendent-General Power over Deceased Person's Estate, Public Sanitation
Resources
Statutes of Canada
Date
1914-00-00
Theme(s)
Residential Schools
Federal Governance
Indian Act
Documents
File
event391-2daf0430.pdf485.27 KB
File Description
An Act to Amend the Indian Act: 4-5 George V, Chapt. 35, 12th Parliament, 3rd Session

Indian Act Amendment: Reserve Residents to Work on Public Roads

Summary

Amendments to the Indian Act in 1898 allowed those living on reserves who were not engaged in agriculture to be recruited to work on public roads. It also allowed the Superintendent General the ability to dispose of grass and timber on reserve land without band surrender. Further power over band funds was also bestowed on the Governor-in-Council.

Implications
The federal government ignored the ways in which First Nations had organized themselves, their labour, and their resources prior to colonial interference. By allocating any on-reserve labour towards road work that was not being used in agriculture, it both denied and controlled reserve populations from utilizing their labour in ways that benefited their communities. Mandatory reallocation of labour also prepared for the settlement of the West, which was reliant on the segregation of Indigenous peoples. To summarize, the amendment ultimately forced reserve labour into creating the conditions wherein settlement could occur while also redirecting the labour and time of First Nations that could be focused on their communities. This could have also been implemented in an attempt to prevent political/physical mobilization (similar to the North-West Resistance) and increase surveillance on First Nations populations. First Nations peoples were not compensated for their labour.

The further control over band spending was an attempt to deal with band resistance in regard to what Indian Affairs identified as unapproved 'spending.' The government was extending paternalistic control over Indigenous governance, wherein they assumed that the government was more knowledgeable about the needs of reserves rather than band councils and precolonial governing systems
Sources

PAC, RG10, Vol. 6809, file 470-2-3, vol.. 4, (vol. II, part 4): Bill, An Act further to amend the Indian Act, 1898, p. 3; J.D McLean to Sifton (copy), Memorandum for the Minister in re proposed amendment to the Indian Act, 11 January 1898, p.7; Orr's comments on section 38 in Amendments to the Indian Act suggested by Agents and others, p. 3; Suggestions as to Amendments to the Indian Act, 15 Nov. 1897 Secretary D.C Scott. CP, Statutes of Canada (61 Vic, cap. 34), 13 June 1898, p. 143: sec. 33 under the 1st clause of an Act further the amend the Indian Act; section 70 under 6th clause, p. 145. CP, House of Commons Debates, 3 Sess., 8 Parl., 1898, vol. 11, col. 5964: Indian Act Amendment BIll, 23 May 1898.

Sub Event
Reserve Residents to Work on Public Roads, Superintendent General Powers over Grass and Timber, Governor-in-Council Power over Band Funds
Date
1898-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Indian Act

Indian Act Amendment

Summary

Following the amendment made the previous year (see entry for Indian Act Amendment 1894 - this allowed the superintendent general the power to lease the land of any Indian unable to cultivate it without having to secure a surrender) a new amendment allowed the Superintendent General to lease without the surrender any Indian land he saw fit upon his request. ----------------------------------------- During one House of Commons debate regarding the proposed amendment, the minister of Indian Affairs noted “As the law stands, no reserve or portion of reserve can be sold or alienated unless surrendered to the Crown...What we do now is...to provide that the SIG may lease for the benefit of any Indian the land to which he is entitled without the same being re-leased or surrendered. In a number of cases, particularly in Ontario, Indians have engaged in other occupations and are fairly well off…In a number of cases, the neighbours, through spite or pique, have used sufficient influence to prevent [Indians from engaging in other occupations]. This Bill provides that the SIG may lease these lands for the benefit of these Indians. This gives us no further power to alienate, but simply provides for the leasing of them.” The 1895 amendments to the Indian Act would entitle Indians who were "emancipated" (enfranchised) to receive their money and land benefits in a lump sum. The 1895 amendments also reinforced that the Indian Act had magisterial jurisdiction over the territories within their agency and beyond, and that when an Indian is admitted into membership to another band, he loses all interest in the lands and moneys of the band to which he was formerly a member. He is then entitled to the lands and moneys of the band to which he has been newly admitted.------------------------------- Section 88 was amended to read that Indians must possess exemplary good conduct and management of property to prove that they are qualified to receive their share of moneys of the band. Section 88.3 was amended to read that shares of money of unmarried children of full age would only be obtained if they were qualified by the integrity, morality and sobriety of their character. Otherwise, they would be required to pass through a probationary period. Section 117 was also amended to read that Indian Agents have the power and authority of two justices of the peace.

Implications
Total control over who was able to hold land was given to the superintendent general. It was suggested by the government that this amendment would stop Aboriginal people from refusing requested surrenders out of spite. It was also suggested by the minister of Indian Affairs that societal racism was a problem that had resulted in Indigenous people being unable to find success in occupations other than agriculture. Leasing these lands for the benefit of the Indians without requiring their permission was a paternalistic measure that would supposedly increase the amount of income which flowed into the reserve. Although, the leasing of such land would undoubtedly have benefited white settlers as well. In the long-term, it removed decision-making power from Indigenous people thereby undermining their economic autonomy and success. The amendment of legislation which enabled "emancipated" Indians to receive their money and land benefits in a lump sum ensured that the land base of reserves would be eroded, hastening the disappearance of reserves and of Indigenous people as a distinct ethnic group by increasing the rate of assimilation. The amendment of legislation which stated that an Indian loses all interest in the lands and moneys of the band to which he was formerly a member, and gains the land and moneys of the band to which he has been newly admitted was clearly gender biased, as it exclusively uses the pronoun "he." Women's rights to land and band money were not protected as such. These rights were definitely lost if women "married out," that is, married a non-Indigenous individual, although men were not subject to the same consequences. This discrimination was used to reduce the number of individuals who qualified for Indian status, thereby decreasing the government's financial obligations and increasing the rate of assimilation.---------------------------------------------------- In the 1894 amendment, the Indian Agent was granted the jurisdictional oversight accorded to a Justice of the Peace, further increasing the power imbalance between colonial authorities and Indigenous people, and enhanced the potential for abuses of such power. It appears as though no accountability structures or system of checks and balances were simultaneously applied to compensate for the powers afforded this expansion of jurisdictional oversight. This is indicative of the belief that it was "savage" and "uncivilized" Indigenous people who posed a threat to societal order, and from whom society needed to be protected, obscuring their position of vulnerability to harm from the Indian Agent. There is also no discussion of rights of Indigenous people or potential routes of advocacy in the case that they are unjustly accused of activities construed as criminal. Increasing the power and authority of the Indian Agent to equate to two justices of the peace is indicative of the degree to which colonial officials perceived their dominance and control to be threatened by Indigenous contraventions of Eurocentric moral and legal standards. It is also representative of the desire to force assimilation through augmented disciplinary efforts.------------------------------------------------------ The overarching intention of these amendments was to hasten the assimilative process. The sections noted above (88, 88.3) contain references to "exemplary good conduct and management of property," and "integrity, morality and sobriety." While these descriptions of moral behaviour were intended to impose Victorian Judeo-Christian notions of right and wrong, they were also not specifically defined and thus provided greater leeway by leaving such decisions to the arbitrary discretion of the Indian Agent. The existence of such legislation was culturally oppressive by implying that Indigenous ethics and morality were inferior and incapable of maintaining a sufficient level of social order. In conjunction with the amendment of section 117, which increases the power and authority of the Indian Agent on the reserve but provides no system of democratic accountability or of checks and balances, these amendments were intended to make the reserves easier to control and to impose conformity to Eurocentric standards.---------------------------------------------------
Sub Event
Increased Land Control Given to Superintendent General; Local Governance/Deposition of Life Chiefs; Moral Qualifications to Receive Band Monies
Resources
Statutes of Canada
Date
1895-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Local Governance
Women and Gender
Indian Act
Racism

Indian Act Amendment

Summary

The wording of Section 149 of the Indian Act was changed to remove the phrase "in aboriginal costume" from the prohibition of Aboriginal participation in certain ceremonies and festivities.

Implications
Where as previously, Aboriginal people had been prohibited from participating in ceremonies and practicing certain forms of traditional culture, they were now also banned from participating in Euro-Canadian events, such as pageants and dances.
Sources

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Indian Acts and Amendments, 180.

Sub Event
Removal of Phrase "In Aboriginal Costume" from Section 149
Resources
Severing the Ties that Bind: Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies
Date
1933-00-00
Theme(s)
Indian Act

DIA Denies Band Permission to Attend Fairs

Summary

Through a 1914 amendment to the Indian Act, First Nations people who wished to travel off-reserve for fairs or stampedes were required to obtain permission from the Indian agent. Throughout the years up to 1918, Department of Indian Affairs officials routinely refused to grant approval for off reserve events. Through the 1920s, officials were more lenient with granting these passes and fair organizers were less inclined to respect the instructions of the DIA.

Implications
Although it was legal for First Nations people to travel off-reserve to participate in settler fairs, Indian Affairs' refusal to grant passes that allowed them to do so was an attempt to surveil and control the activities of Indigenous peoples.
Sources
Resources
Indian Affairs Record Group 10 (RG10) Inventory
A Narrow Vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada
Severing the Ties that Bind: Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies
Date
1914-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Legal
Integration & Mobility
Indian Act

Yorkton Sun Dance

Summary

Members of the Swan River, Crooked Lakes, File Hills, and Touchwood agencies attended a Sun Dance in Yorkton. The actions of participants were criticized, but there was no direct action by government or police to stop the ceremony.

Implications
This provides an example of the inconsistency in the enforcement of laws that prohibited the Sun Dance and other cultural/religious ceremonies. The Sun Dance was perceived to be a pagan ritual and an illegitimate expression of spirituality that perpetuated Indigenous "barbarism," thus impeding the spread of Christianity and its moral norms amongst Indigenous peoples. The official prohibition of the Sun Dance, therefore, was representative of the government's attempt to assimilate Indigenous people into the values of mainstream Euro-Canadian society.
Sources

J.D McLean to G. Forget, July 1, 1898 (NAC, RG-10, vol. 3,825, file 60,511-1), 1.

Resources
Severing the Ties that Bind: Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies
Date
1898-00-00
Theme(s)
Religion
Indian Act

Indian Act Amendment

Summary

Furthering the steps taken by the 1920 amendment that granted the superintendent general the authority to decide whether a woman who married a non-First Nations man was allowed to live on reserve, this amendment automatically enfranchised women who married non-status men, barring them from living on-reserve. It also forced enfranchised women to sell their reserve lands and to be paid the treaty monies to which they were entitled. This amendment also introduced the ‘double-mother’ rule, where a child whose mother or grandmother had obtained status solely through marriage automatically lost their status at age 21 [section 12(1)(a)(iv)]. Women were also allowed to vote in band elections with this amendment. Intoxicant prohibition was also reinforced, making it illegal for an Aboriginal person to possess alcohol or to be intoxicated both on and off-reserve. ---------------- In other sections, this Act removed some of the power of the Superintendent-General that existed in previous iterations, giving greater control to Aboriginal groups. However, significant power still lay in the hands of the Minister and Governor-in-Council. ------------------- Regulations concerning participation in ceremonies, attendance at fairs and rodeos, and expropriation of reserve lands that had been added mostly between 1890 and 1918 were removed in this version.

Implications
Although this amendment removed some of the sexism in the band election process, it added sexist membership and status rules for women that would remove Indian status for many women. It should also be noted that this discriminatory amendment (which required enfranchised women to sell their reserve land and barred them from living on reserves) left women who were victims of violence in a precarious position. It is quite possible that women who lived in isolated or remote rural communities would not have access or transportation to domestic violence shelters. And, if transportation were available, without having an alternate home, it is possible that leaving a partnership in which domestic violence were present would leave the enfranchised woman homeless. The harms associated with domestic violence can have significant long-term physical and psychological and effects for enfranchised women, and, in addition to these impacts, can have negative developmental effects on children as well. ---------------- This amendment, along with the 1956 amendment, opened the door for the Saskatchewan provincial government to request permission from the federal government for First Nations people to be able to purchase alcohol and patronize bars.
Sub Event
Greater Federal Control Over First Nations Identity (1951 Amendments)
Resources
The Saskatchewan CCF Government and Treaty Indians, 1944-1964
RCAP: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996
Date
1951-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Religion
Indian Act

Joint Parliamentary Committee on Indian Affairs

Summary

The Special Joint Parliamentary Committee on Indian Affairs was appointed in order to examine the post-war experiences of Aboriginal people across the country. Particular focuses of the committee were treaty rights, band membership, taxation, enfranchisement, encroachments on Indigenous land, schools, and the social and economic advancement of Indians. The committee met with various groups representing Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan, including the Protective Association for Indians and their Treaties and the Saskatchewan Indian Association. These delegates recommended to the committee that all education, welfare, and social initiatives should be run by Aboriginal people and be non-denominational.

Implications
The result of the two years of committee meetings was four reports containing recommendations presented to parliament. However, governing powers over Indigenous peoples remained intact.
Sources

Canada, Special Joint Committee on the Indian Act, Minutes of Proceeding and Evidence, Fourth Report, 22 June 1948. CP, S.J.C. 1947, p 969-1002

Sub Event
Joint Parliamentary Committee Meeting with Saskatchewan Delegates
Resources
Walking in Indian Moccasins: The Native Policies of Tommy Douglas and the CCF
RCAP: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996
Severing the Ties that Bind: Government Repression of Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the Prairies
Date
1946-00-00
Theme(s)
Federal Governance
Local Governance
Indian Act
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